Huffington Post article on Marilyn Carino - Little Genius
author: Kristi York Wooten
Although New York singer Marilyn Carino says listening to her catalog of work with new-millennium indie darlings Mudville "feels like a nostalgia trip," she's proud of what she and collaborator Ben Rubin accomplished: critical praise (in 2006, critic John Pareles of The New York Times described their music as "somewhere between Fiona Apple and Morcheeba"), a loyal worldwide following (even in Finland!), and a reputation (one she feels is misguided) as prominent purveyors of the dark, atmospheric beat vibe known as trip hop.
So it won't surprise fans to discover her latest release, Little Genius - recorded solo - packs a brooding one-two punch in tracks like "Time Bomb" and "Monster Heavy" with multi-genre influences and even shades of Carino's muse, Nina Simone. (She says the late chanteuse, whose song "Sinnerman" she discovered while watching David Lynch's "Inland Empire," "drags something very powerful out of me.")
But what folks don't know is how this Brooklynite and queen of downtown club-scene cool unearthed her new batch of torchy electronic soul: she wrote the songs during a three-month stopover on an organic farm called Serenbe in Georgia.
Although Carino spent time in this Southern nouveau Utopia to be with her (famous) artist fiance, she says the stint taught her a lot about independence.
"I was always in the shadow of powerful men in my life," the singer explains over sushi during a recent return visit to Atlanta. "I was alone in this house in the woods while my boyfriend was painting, so I learned Pro Tools and recorded every note of Little Genius myself."
Carino also did all the photography and graphic work for the album, as well as the filming, lighting, production and editing for her solo music videos.
The "Monster Heavy" video below features claymation by Latvian artist Elina Spura. Beware: video not for the faint of art.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbkhQmYglPs
As for the album's nine songs, Carino says each has a theme of independence and a liberation from past repression or regression.
"'No Disgrace' is about a childhood friend who ended up a heroin addict, HIV positive and in Bellevue. He called me for help, and I tried to encourage him. I kept thinking, 'If only he could not feel shamed and just be able to enjoy life from this moment on.'"
Carino, a Buddhist for nearly two decades, says her spiritual practice guides her desire to "distill music to its essentials." Her mantra of "simple sophistication" makes for often trance-like rhythms beneath a contralto that exudes sexiness as it dances between buttery low notes, clear chest power, and guttural wails - each sung with the precision and care of a traditional jazz diva. But tunes such as "I Will Have Everything" and "Special Dark" are anything but jazzy. Move over, Florence! Your Machine has some seriously ethereal competition.
Carino has written, recorded and performed with members of R.E.M, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and legendary producers Sly and Robbie. Little Genius is a fitting title for this collection - and its one-woman creator.
Read more...
Atmospheric and Intimate
author: Trippin The Rift
Don't you hate it when a certain band that you like doesn't do anything for a while, and then, when you're about to give up on them altogether, their (usually female) vocalist comes out with a solo album, and you're like, OK, I'll take that! - only to be bitterly disappointed by this mellow uninspired poppy singer-songwriter dung fest. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, but for every Róisín Murphy there are dozens of [insert any other name of a trip-hop vocalist gone solo]. Now you understand the position I was in approaching the new record Little Genius by Marilyn Carino, whom some of you may know as the vocalist for Mudville. I don't know what exactly the reasoning was behind making a solo record (I'm planning on asking that question in the upcoming Q&A with Marilyn, which I'm really looking forward to). If some of it was to get her name more visible, not shadowed by the title of the group, then I must say - even though Little Genius is full of shadows, none of them hide the talent of Marilyn Carino. This, my friends, is how you do a solo album. You don't just do something different for the sake of doing something different. You do what you do best for the sake of making it sound even better. Despite its chilling downtempo base, Little Genius is anything but mellow. There's so much passion in Marilyn's singing, that it becomes overwhelming in some parts. But the album is also so well structured that instead of hitting your senses randomly and leaving you crushed and confused, it captures you whole and washes you away, providing a complete experience, painting a picture abstract enough to be mysterious yet totally relatable. This image will of course be different for every listener, but I couldn't help picturing the ocean. Not just your generic ambient ocean as in "lots of water". A very particular ocean, ever-changing and alive, going through various stages of demonstrating its power to us mortals. "Time Bomb" - the storm gathers, you can feel it in this pulsating beat and eerily calm vocals (which multiply, echoing and overlapping, just like dark clouds scattered across the sky). And then it starts. "King Of The World" makes its theatrical grand entrance. It's huge. It doesn't crush you - there aren't any elaborate orchestrations or layering of crafty samples. It just makes you feel small by its sophistication. It's perfect. "Monster Heavy" - devastation. There's no escape, this song captures whatever is left of you, the drums are ruthless and echoing vocals (Marilyn uses this element quite tastefully) drag you into the whirlwind of sound. But you already can hear the upcoming calmness in the keyboard parts. And "No Disgrace" brings it, with the beat carrying over some of the nervousness of the storm but the vocals are sunny and instrumentations are soothing. And it continues on, from the wavy cool boat ride of "S'cool" to the dangerous deep waters of "Whisper". From the trip-hop beat of "Special Dark" counterbalanced by psychedelic keyboards and jazzy vocals to the ambient anthem of "Modern Love". And the smooth sailing of "I Will Have Everything" takes us to the new and wonderful beginnings.
Even though I personally would like to hear more instruments accompanying Marilyn Carino's wonderful voice and sometimes the album's intentional borderlessness was throwing me off, Little Genius is an excellent record, brave and powerful, atmospheric and intimate.
Read more...
such a groovy mood
author: deevee
Marilyn's voice is so haunting and beautiful, but not airy and light - she really sounds like a jazz singer doing soul music. I absolutely love "Time Bomb" and "Monster Heavy", just great music, it fills you up
Read more...